Stigma in the sands
by xskyskipper
Summary: Sent to Sunagakure to investigate a new stigma crippling the civilians, Sakura is hesitant to undertake the mission without backup. Tsunade in her wisdom sends along a Byakugan user. Told bad for Sakura it was not the friendlier of the two. Truths creep to the surface, and Sakura really wishes she would have just stayed home. No such luck.
1. The journey into the sands

{A/N;; Here's another long progression of a story, meant to have almost(or more xD) chapters as "Smolder." Each chapter will be of varying length. It will be an ongoing project with updates probably once or twice a month. Also to clear up one thing:

This story will be sort of AU, as it doesn't follow recent happenings in the manga/anime.

**Bold is inner Sakura's thoughts.**

Enjoy~ -S.s

Plot: Sent to Sunagakure to investigate a new stigma crippling the civilians, Sakura is hesitant to undertake the mission without backup. Tsunade in her wisdom sends along a Byakugan user. Told bad for Sakura it was not the friendlier of the two. Truths creep to the surface, and Sakura really wishes she would have just stayed home. No such luck.

After a thirty-two hours shift at the hospital, Sakura was numb from the toes up. Not only had she delivered triplets, sewed back three torn ligaments with chakra, splintered a broken leg but she also had given four physical exams. So to say she was tired was a huge underestimate. She was plum exhausted, and barely managed to stagger home and collapse on her couch, too tired to even make it to the bedroom.

So tired in fact that she missed the knocks at her apartment door completely. She could only scream, when a masked figure shook her awake a few minutes later. After she had quieted down upon realizing it was a anbu official, the rabbit masked spoke, "I did knock you know, and the door was unlocked. Careless thing to do really, what kind of ninja are you?"

Sakura practically growled her reply, "A very weary one, who is becoming rapidly pissed from lack of sleep. So if you have anything worthwhile to say, do it now, before I throttle you."

The anbu gulped audibly, as he knew that when angered the small pinkette could be lethal, "Tsunade requests to meet with you. Mission confidential and urgent. She expects you in her office immediately."

Sakura blearily rubbed her eyes, before waving him off, mission accomplished the youth was quick to scamper off, leaving Sakura alone in her once again quiet apartment. Slowly with the enthusiasm of a three legged tortoise, she practically crawled to her shower. After a warm shower that seemed far too quick for her taste, she towel dried her pink locks to braid them in a low braid that fell just below waist level. Dressing casually she put on a comfy white sweater, black spandex shorts, and red knee-high boots. Satisfied with her appetence, she made her way to the Hokage's tower.

After Shizune showed her in, the first words to leave Tsunade's mouth were, "You are late. Fifty-five and a half minutes to be exact. If these were war times, you would have just killed five children. Shizune, bring me Sake!"

Sakura bowed slightly, covering her mouth from an erupting yawn simultaneously, "A-ah, sorry bout that Shisshou. Did you want me for a mission or something?"

Tsunade's lips quirked a unfamiliar smirk as she replied, "Or something. Your mission is to be A-class and is urgent you will be needed to leave by tommorrow's first light. The Kazekage has sent word about a strange disease; they call it the crippling stigma, making it way across the village. They say it seems to be spread by contact, so you will need to be extremely careful. The unusual thing is although the village has been quarantined, the disease is rapidly making its way to Konoha, striking every small village between here and there. I have reason to believe this disease is man-made by the symptoms described. Which means you must go to Sunagakure and investigate at the source. The culprit may still be there watching the effects from the shadows."

Sakura took a moment to process the information given to her before replying, "How long is the mission length? Also if I am to come up with some kind of a cure, and also find the culprit, I will probably need a partner."

Tsunade nodded at her words, her lips set in a grim line as she spoke, "Indefinite. I will give you a leave of a year just to be safe. Hopefully you will return before then, but diseases are most precautious things to diagnose. As for the partner, I couldn't agree more, you may pick anyone of your choosing."

Sakura didn't even need to think about it, her voice quick to offer up an answer, "Naruto."

Tsunade shook her head, her voice firm, "Not Naruto, he is grounded so to speak to the village so to speak, to train."

"Kakashi?"

"Gone on a mission undercover with Sai to infiltrate root headquarters."

"Ino?"

"I could hardly ask a pregnant mother to leave the village and have her child in a foreign village."

"Shikamaru."

"Sakura, asking the father of said child is just as cruel."

"Um….how about Hinata?"

"Same as Ino. Don't bother asking for Kiba either."

"Well, I guess Lee could do…"

"He's on a mission with Tenten in the village of the rain."

Sakura was getting frustrated now, and could only grind out her words angrily, "Fine, I'll take whoever is left, you can choose!" **"Famous last words."**

This seemed to please Tsunade as she smiled a mischievous smile, her voice suddenly light with some unknown joke, "Very well, meet by the gate tomorrow. Your partner will be there waiting. The Kazekage is already awaiting your arrival. I cannot stress how important this mission is, this disease MUST NOT be allowed to reach Konoha's gates. The consequences of your failure would be devastating." Tsunade them snatched the sake bottle, Shizune had brought, a clear dismissal, which Sakura was only too happy to oblige.

The next morning after waking up earlier than needed and packing light, she made her way to say her goodbyes. A whole year seemed like a lifetime. Sakura could only wonder why Tsunade hadn't chosen Shizune for such an important mission, she was far more knowlegable about unique medicial cases than her. But despite the latter though, Sakura was happy. She had sleept well, and she was going on a vacation of sorts. Suna was known for being a tourist attraction, which she was sure to use to her advantage. Of course the mission was important, but she could have fun and find a cure at the same time.

When she reached Ino's house, Sakura was glad that her friend was already awake, swapping gossip with an equally pregnant Hinata. Ino looked up from her conversation with the lavender eyed heiress, and was quick to waddle over and give Sakura a warm hug. Hormones made Ino rather demure and loving, but Sakura couldn't complain because she knew her best friend was happy. "What brings you about so early forehead?" Her nickname was now just a pet name, the malice behind it gone with their genin days.

"I came to say goodbye. I'm being sent away on a yearlong mission. Wish I could tell you more, but can't. I just thought I should give the belly a rub for good luck before leaving."

Ino huffed, her lip forming a pout, as she replied, "Did you hear that Hinata-chan? Sakura said she only loves me for the belly? Should I be insulted or jealous?"

The quiet Hyuga was quick to wave nervously, "N-neither, you should be happy that Sakura-chan would think to visit so early."

Rolling her eyes impatiently, Ino placed her hands on her protruding stomach, pretending to be miffed, "Just because you're the godmother don't think you can just get away with everything forehead."

Sakura smiled at her friend's antics, some people didn't change much, "Hai, pig." She then put her hand to her friend's belly and was delighted when she felt the baby kick at her touch.

Ino smiled fondly down at her stomach, "She seems to only kick for you, Shika and I can't help being a little jealous."

Sakura shrugged her shoulders san sat next to her two friends, just enjoying the quiet moment, "What can I say? Kids love me. What's her name again?"

"Hanaume. Shika wanted to call her after some Shogi term, but I of course refused. After all he's not the one carrying around basketball on his bladder for nine months. I really was hoping you'd be the midwife, Sakura…"

Sakura sighed and looked to Hinata for support, "I know you both asked me to play midwife, but this mission sounds pretty serious. Maybe Tsunade will let me come back for a bit to help out. You can always contact me by summon, if anything gets serious."

Hinata nodded, her voice small compared to Ino's blabber mouth, "I-i think that it's admirable that Tsunade picked you for such an important mission, I do hope nothing goes wrong." The latter part of her words made Sakura feel like Hinata knew something she didn't. Nah, her friend wouldn't withhold anything important from her.

Sakura smiled sweetly at her shy friend, "I really hope that your little guy growing in there is as adorable as you are Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed and stammered, "W-we, Kiba and I, decided on the name Kouyou for a boy, and Sumire if it's a girl."

Sakura nodded and suddenly felt a sense of pride for having such loyal friends, "I'm so happy for the both of you. Happily married and already expecting your first kids, you guys sure lucked out on life."

Ino tsked like a mother hen, "You know, forehead, if you didn't spend so much time at the bloody hospital, you too would have a man by now."

Sakura rolled her eyes at her nosy friend, "Listen pig, I'm perfectly happy being single, I don't need some guy to tell me how to live my life. Really, I'm fine."

Before Ino could cook up a saucy retort, Hinata asked, "A-ano, Sakura-chan, what time was your mission again."

Sakura looked around noticing the sun had already risen and panic set in, "S-shit! I'm going to be late. We'll see you guys in a year! Hopefully sooner!" With a quick hug to both of her friends, she took off at full speed hurtling towards the gate. She made it within a few minutes, huffing from the sudden exertion and looked around curiously.

A deep voice startled her from her surveying, "Glad to see you decided to show up Haruno-san. I was worried I worried I would be waiting all morning."

She looked over to see one, Neji Hyuga. Sakura could only gape at the brunette ninja, mystified at the sight of him. **"Tsunade decides to send us on some important mission and she chooses him to be our partner. She should have just send a brick of ice and called it good." **

Neji ignored her silence and replied, "If you are quite down with your ogling, let us be off to Suna."

Sakura huffed at his words, "I wasn't oogling! I'm definitely not interested in you like that. I was just surprised that Shisshou choose you to be my partner." **"Yeah he definitely would one of my last choices right next to Shino or Choji." **

"Of course Haruno, whatever you say. Anyways let's get going, the day is wasting."

Sakura didn't bother to reply, but simply followed after him in heated silence. **"This is going to be a lovely trip. Why don't we just talk to ourselves, it's not like he has anything nice to say." **

Sakura couldn't have agreed more, but after walking quietly for the better part of her, Sakura couldn't stand the oppressive silence, "So how are things with you?"

He looked back at her, and she almost missed the annoyed twitch in his right eyebrow, as he replied shortly, "Fine."

was brisk. Already deciding that she was going to make the most of this trip, Sakura continued to gush on, unbeknownst to her companion's growing rate of irritation, "Well, I'm doing great, thanks for asking. Though it's been pretty stressful lately, due to becoming head doctor after Shizune decided to go solely into lab work. But I really like my job. Speaking of jobs, you're next in line to become Anbu Captain right? That must be fun. But not as fun as being a Uncle, right? I bet you're super proud for Hinata to be having a kid on the way. I hope it's a boy, but I bet it's a girl, judging by the baby's position. I wonder if her and Ino will go into labor at the same time? That would be amazing, although I'll probably miss it."

She paused to take a breath but before she could continue, but before she could speak, Neji interrupted, his eyebrows slanted downwards in annoyance, "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Sakura wondered if this was rhetorical question but answered anyway, "I was just trying to make light conversation, since this is going to a long trip. You know to lighten the mood a bit."

"Well don't. I'm not Ino, and I have no interest in your incessant ramblings. I would enjoy this trip far more, if it were in silence."

Sakura shut her mouth with an audible snap; her surprise at his words seemed to please Neji as he continued walking, though at a much brisker pace than before. **"What ice pick was shoved up his as-"**Before inner Sakura's rant could continue, Sakura tried to focus on the journey ahead and shut out all the negatives thoughts she was suddenly having. It seems that much longer with Neji as her traveling companion. Why him of all people? What karma god had it in for her? These questions went unanswered as they set up camp, busily trying to ignore the other. Sakura could only hope that the year would pass by quickly.


	2. Festival in the sands

{A/N;; Here's another long progression of a story, meant to have almost(or more xD) chapters as "Smolder." Each chapter will be of varying length. It will be an ongoing project with updates probably once or twice a month. Also to clear up one thing:

This story will be sort of AU, as it doesn't follow recent happenings in the manga/anime.

**Bold is inner Sakura's thoughts.**

Enjoy~ -S.s

Plot: Sent to Sunagakure to investigate a new stigma crippling the civilians, Sakura is hesitant to undertake the mission without backup. Tsunade in her wisdom sends along a Byakugan user. Told bad for Sakura it was not the friendlier of the two. Truths creep to the surface, and Sakura really wishes she would have just stayed home. No such luck.

When Sakura and Neji finally arrived in Suna, Sakura couldn't have been happier. Perhaps it was the fact that they arrived during the night when the city streets were littered with venders and booths celebrating some type of festival or maybe it was the fact that she has survived the trip to Suna in the first place. As much as the pinkeete wanted to ditch Neji and his overbeaing arrogance as soon as possible she was raised with some manners and resisted the urge, instead offering nonchalantly, "We made excellent time, so there's really no need to check in early. Do you want to check out the festival first."

He nodded and turned to leave, rolling her eyes in irritation Sakura reached out grabbing his arm before he could completely leave, huffing at needing to clarify, "I meant with me. Check out the festival with me?"

"Oh." You could almost feel the distaste at her suggestion rolling off of him in waves as he narrowed his eyes at her continued hold on head. Seeing his line of sight, she carefully relinquished her clutch and waited for his answer. When a few awkward silent moments passed by, Sakura decided to not let him ruin her evening, she would have more fun without him anyways.

Before he could leave her standing like an idiot, she took off, but not before muttering under her breath, "Suit yourself, prince." The way she said prince it sounded like a cuss word rather than an endearment. Neji was particularly hopeful that the nickname would not stick, because after all who wanted to be a prince, when they could be a king instead?

Sakura stormed off, only to slow her pace, and take a few calming breaths. Really why did she let his words effect her? **"Because he is a **_**very**_** talented ninja who you had a smidgen of a crush on when you were younger, maybe?" **Sakura didn't approve of the way her inner said very, it sounded as if she hadn't been talking about his ninja skills but a completely different set of skills. This made her wince at the thought and the pinkette could not help muttering an angry response at her inner's statement, "Oh shut up, you. It's not like you actually exist!" A nearby vender looked at her quizzically, and Sakura gulped audibly realizing she has spoken out loud.

She waved at him good-naturedly plastering a smile on her face before turning to immerse herself in the crowd in embarrassment. **"Smooth." **Pursing her lips, Sakura ignored her inner's teasing and scanned the crowd looking at the sights that the festival presented.The lanterns hanging overhead set the streets lights ablaze with dancing shadows, their movements so jolly and calming, Sakura could feel herself, visibly relaxing. After all who didn't love a good street festival?

Passing by a group of giggling girls decked out in beautiful yukutas, Sakura made her way to a nearby stand to play the shooting game there. The rules itself were straight forward enough, hit the red and white targets to earn points, the closer you are to the center of the bulls eye, the more points earned. The only catch being the task of actually embedding the projectiles into the target. A pretty difficult feat when the projectiles, small carefully crafted shurikens are made of flimsy plastic. This didn't deter people away; in fact it became more of a feat of strength than accuracy. Many men tried their hand at the game, their girlfriends and significant others cheering on their efforts in vain. None of the men, even the body builder types could make the weapons stick.

Their frustration amused Sakura for some reason, because she knew all too well how the venders made their money. It wasn't fair, it wasn't moral, but they still kept up their tricks in order to survive. Sakura herself was often a victim of their mischief masking, simply because it was fun to try her hands at things that seemed impossible. This game would be no different. After the man in front of her, finally admitted defeat, the vender called out for volunteers for the game. It was silent for a brief moment before Sakura raised her hand high in the air. The men parted for her staring at her in disbelief. Sakura could practically read the thoughts from their faces alone, _"How could such a tiny slip of a girl hope to succeed when such great manly men had failed?" _Obviously the gamekeeper agreed with their unspoken thoughts because he asked politely, "Are you volunteering for your boyfriend miss?"

Sakura shook her head savagely plucking at her gloves as she stretched her arms experimentally, "Nope, here the money, now I get to play right?" The gamekeeper could only nod at the money presented before him, and hand her a bucket filled with the shurikens, his voice placating as he said, "Remember miss, it's just a game, and perfectly alright if you miss."

Sakura wanted badly to say that she didn't plan too, but kept her mouth shit instead focusing on the task at hand. After a series of steadying breathes, she blacked out all the noises around her, from the young girl squealing at the sight of cotton candy, to the little dog yipping at the prospect of dropped morsels. Everything. Once her world was silent, Sakura directed small traces of chakra of chakra into her arms, channeling them into each of her fingers and their joints, increasing her average strength tenfold.

Then with one final breath she carefully released a series of shuriken at the intended target, not pausing to see where they landed she grabbed more and threw these too, until the basket was completely empty. It wasn't until she heard a collective of cheering from around her, did she finally look at the target. All thirteen of the shuriken were neatly arranged directly the center of the bulls-eye.

The gamekeeper could only shake his head in wonder, "That's quite some arm you've got there miss, none before you have managed to make them all in such perfection like that. What will you be having for your prize? Anything of this wall is up for your choosing." He gestured behind him at the vast array of stuffed merchandise, and Sakura let her eyes wander over the lot until her eyes settled on a pink big plushie with small blue colored pebble eyes. Laughing at the thought of her friend Ino, she choose the pig as her prize smiling wily at her winning, she turned to leave but not before several large hands clapped her in congratulations.

Her next target of adventure was the goldfish catching booth. But before she could make it there, a beautiful yukuta caught her eye. It caused her to look down at her plain civilian clothes in distaste. Almost as if coming to her rescue, an old woman beckoned her over imploringly. Sakura not one to be openly rude, trotted over to see what she wanted. The old woman continued to becken her inside of her tent, Sakura was hesitant at first, but realized there was no way the frail woman could do much harm, so followed her in.

Once inside the woman looked at Sakura, her old face cracking into a smile, "I saw the envy in your eyes at the girl's yukuta, so I thought you might be interested in one of these." As she spoke, Sakura saw what she gestured at, around her hung dozens of intricate yukutas of every shape, size and color. Some were short and colored full, others dark and unassuming.

"How much do they cost?" Sakura could not help being wary of such precious garments.

The old crone shook her head a wisp of a smile lighting her face as she replied, "No price. Free for all festival goers. You rent a yukuta for tonight only and we hold onto your clothes to make sure you return the garment. Donations of course are always accepted. Now take a good look and choose one to your liking."

Sakura felt all her suspicions wither away at the kindness in the old lady's voice. Following her instruction, she looked through each selection careful marveling in the quality of each piece. It wasn't until her hands found a particularly exquisite piece of fabric, that the old lady hastened her to try it on behind a privacy screen.

Sakura came out after a few minutes and two girls barely in their teens rushed forward at the old crone's words to apply light makeup and tend to her hair. After they were through, they held up a ornate mirror for her approval. In the mirror, the pinkette could only stare in surprise at her reflection. The girl in the mirror was dress in an ankle length yukuta the color of a freshly picked plum. Adorning the purple fabric, silvery koi danced through a starlit sky. The girl's long hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with a few wisps framing her face like a halo. Traces of light makeup were applied to her face, a touch of red for her lips and a light pink to her eye shadow, that it looked believable realistic.

The old lady nodded her approval of the beauty before shoving her out of the tent to enjoy the rest of the night. Sakura could barely stutter her thanks, before the old lady had turned to another girl to play fairy godmother of the night. Not that Sakura though of herself as Cinderella, but the idea of fairy godmother was welcome thought. Returning back to the goldfish catching booth, Sakura felt more peaceful after being dressed up so elegantly. The vender after an exchange of money handed Sakura three small nets and left to attend another customer.

Sakura stared intently down at the swirling goldfish, analyzing her technique before actually performing it. So lost her thoughts, she failed to notice the presence behind her, until the figure leaned in close to whisper her ear, "You know the game is rigged, right? The scoops are fragile and break in certain points when pressure is applied." So shocked at his sudden arrival, Sakura almost dropped her scoops into the water in alarm, then began rubbing at the goosebumps forming on her arms that his silky voice had created. Shaking herself of the sensation she replied hotly, "Obviously I do, but still its fun. Anyways how did you recognize me in such a crowd?"

Neji raised his eyebrows mocking the latter part of her words, until Sakura could practically guess, her voice was flat when she spoke, "Oh, yeah the hair. Kind of sticks out like a sore thumb…"

She then turned back to the task and hand and lowered her scoop into the water only to have it break immediately when she caught a fish. She heard her chuckle as he still lingered close to her, as if to further mock her attempts. Huffing at his apparent ridicule, she replied hotly, "When then Prince, you try if you're so superior!" Smirking at the challenge poised, he grabbed one of her offered scoops and without a moment of doubt dunked it into the tank and immediately pulled up a wriggling fish. After depositing it into the jar offered by the vender. Sakura was preparing to grill him on how he had accomplished the task, when she noticed his activated byakugan. Scowling at him, her voice laced with venom, "You cheated! You can't use your bloodline technique that takes all the fun out the game!"

Neji smirked before offering her the bow with the fish like a peace offering, "That didn't stop you from using your monstrous strength on that poor vender's target."

Sakura accepted the bowl, mollified that he had seen her use of strength, "T-that was completely different!"

Neji cocked his head curiously at the idea, before asking smoothly, "How so?"

Sakura rallied her brain for the answer before replying, "I used my strength which is something I've worked out. It's not like it was handed to me like your bloodline."

"I suppose so. But the matter at hand is the idea of ninja's using skills that civilians don't posses to win silly carnival games, not the fact that I was born with natural strength."

The later part of his statement was obvious jab at her earlier genin days which has been filled with such weakness it was unbearable to think about. Desperate to change the subject, she asked looking to the pale fish swimming angrily around in the confines of its bowl, "What made you catch this little guy? I mean there were others bigger, more brightly colored then this one, so pick this one?"

Neji looked in passing at the small fish. It was by no means the prettiest fish in the bunch. Amongst the other bright orange, yellows, and red, it was surely an oddity. Because of its unusual coloring it had probably been picked on since its birth due to the rips in its fins and various scars on it body. It wasn't easy being different; it made some people weak and others strong but hardened. The small fish could have been sickly, yet it swam just as strongly as his fellow fish, just as strongly to survive.

The train of his thoughts reminded him of Sakura. Of how her unusual coloring had made her stand out but not in a good way. He couldn't say these thoughts out lot and risk sounding like a fool, so he searched for another answer.

It was then he noticed her appearance for the first time. The moonlight seemed to illuminate the silver fish on her yukuta making them seem almost alive, while the lanterns cast a glow on her face that made her seem peaceful, beautiful even. He shook his head trying to clear his heads of such thoughts before replying, "I choose it because it matched the ones on your yukuta."

Her mouth formed a silent "O", as she looked down to her garment in wonder. Silently he cursed himself for answering like that, it made him seem weak. But then Sakura smiled a brilliant smile as if the whole world should know how much his answer please her. Her smile was brilliant, and he found himself lost in it. But before he could read too much into her display of happiness, she grabbed his arms and dragged him off towards a nearby food stall.

Sighing to the heavens, he wondered if it was a mistake to allow the girl to be friendly with him, as she prattled on about the festival. But it was far too late to take back his words, because now Sakura knew. Sakura knew that underneath a finely crafted wall of arrogance, Neji Hyugga was not a total ass. This thought made the rest of her night quite enjoyable.

So infectious was her happiness, Neji allowed himself the briefest of smiles, when he was quite sure she wasn't looking. Afterall a Hyuuga was nothing without his pride. He had to be very careful of guarding it, because Sakura Haruno was truly something when she wasn't smashing mountains with her fist or yelling obscenities at her teammates. Something to be apprehensive about that he was sure.


End file.
